Domain Prototype

After three days of insight atop Mount Tai, Qin Hao had gained a certain understanding of Artistic Conception and could enter that state from time to time. However, he was still short of fully integrating it into his attacks and Movement Technique.

But once he had made a start, everything became simpler. What remained was a gradual process of constant comprehension and refinement. Qin Hao also discovered that his comprehension of Artistic Conception differed from others'.

The Ten Major Attributes—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, time, and space—each had their own characteristics. The Artistic Conception Qin Hao currently comprehended seemed more inclined toward the wood attribute, yet it was also different, carrying a hint of life.

Qin Hao did not dare confirm the speculation in his heart. After all, though he did not know much about the wood attribute, it had a strong connection to vitality and plants. As for Life Origin, it was far too distant for the current Qin Hao.

After leaving Mount Tai, Qin Hao did not choose to return home. Instead, he continued his cultivation. This time, however, his goal was clearer. After leaving Mount Tai, he planned to visit the Three Mountains and Five Peaks, as well as the famous scenic sites from his previous life.

Following his insight atop Mount Tai, Qin Hao gained some understanding throughout his travels. His comprehension of heaven and earth gradually deepened, while his understanding of Artistic Conception steadily advanced, continuously being refined and deepened.

After leaving Mount Emei, Qin Hao directly followed the Qinghai-Tibet line that had once begun in Chengdu before the Great Nirvana, advancing toward the Roof of the World. Upon entering this route, the surrounding environment became harsher, and the number of Monsters increased noticeably.

Qin Hao did not pay much attention to this situation.

There are so many Monsters—about as many as near the coast. During his time drifting at sea, Qin Hao had witnessed attacks from all kinds of Monsters. Now, he once again felt as though he had returned to the ocean, with all sorts of Monsters attacking him from time to time.

Before the Great Nirvana, the Roof of the World had already been vast and sparsely populated. After the Great Nirvana, the breeding speed of all kinds of Monsters further accelerated. Coupled with the geographical conditions here, few martial artists came specifically to hunt them, creating a place much like a Monster Paradise.

Yet it was precisely in this environment that Qin Hao's understanding of nature became clearer. The wildly growing plants and their tenacious vitality left him deeply astonished.

As his comprehension of Artistic Conception gradually deepened, Qin Hao also began to comprehend domains. A domain was, to a certain extent, the sublimation of Artistic Conception. Artistic Conception grasped the surface, comprehension touched the core, and laws were the true core.

In Hong's view, a domain is the sublimation that comes after Unity of Heaven and Man. It is also the resonance of spirit, Gene Energy, and Cosmic Energy, forming a domain. Qin Hao continuously pondered the contents he had seen in Hong's cultivation experience, adding his own insights as well as descriptions of domains from his previous life.

Domains were mentioned only a limited number of times in Swallowed Star. Early on, they were Divine Skills, but later their presence became much weaker. Qin Hao felt deeply conflicted about domains.

In the world of Swallowed Star, domains came first. Only after a domain reached a sufficient height could one come into contact with laws. Yet in another of Fanqie's novels, one first comprehended laws, became a god, and only then possessed a domain.

Though they were not the same world, they came from the same author, so there were certainly some similarities in their settings.

Domains and laws are inseparable. A domain is the mark of a Domain Lord, while laws are the mark of a World Lord. Domains have not truly disappeared to a certain extent; they should have become part of a world. That is why, when many World Lords fight, they directly summon World Phantoms. Inspirations continuously sprang up in Qin Hao's mind as his thoughts spread across matters such as domains and laws. In the end, they returned once more to Artistic Conception.

Then what exactly is the essence of Artistic Conception?

Is it the manifestation of the world, the manifestation of laws, or the prototype of a domain? The doubts in Qin Hao's heart continued to grow.

Sometimes, the more one knew, the more that knowledge became a restriction. Qin Hao was in exactly that situation. This world held too many things, yet what he knew was only a small portion revealed in the novel. It could serve as a reference, but it could not become a limitation on his cultivation.

After thinking this through, Qin Hao felt incomparably relieved. Even his soul seemed to have become purer, and his entire being clearer.

Comprehending as he traveled, Qin Hao soon arrived at the foot of Mount Everest, the Summit of the World from his previous life.

In his previous life, this place had been the limit for countless people, and few had completed the challenge. Now, few people came to this peak. After the Great Nirvana, the entire Roof of the World was sparsely inhabited, and even fewer came to challenge this mountain.

For those capable of coming here, however, this peak posed no real challenge. The rise of martial artists had made this mountain no longer an insurmountable problem.

After gazing at the mountain from its foot for a while, Qin Hao stepped forward and headed toward Mount Everest. No one had climbed it for many years, and the original route had been completely buried beneath Ice and Snow. Only a few places retained faint traces, letting later arrivals know that people had once been here.

Though there was no path, it was no obstacle to Qin Hao. With the strength of an Advanced War God, climbing the peak before him was as easy as walking on level ground. However, Qin Hao did not move too quickly. As he advanced, his body and mind immersed themselves in the surrounding heaven and earth, sensing everything around him.

As he continued onward, Qin Hao gradually entered a state devoid of desire, as though he had transcended heaven and earth. The Cosmic Energy around him became exceptionally clear and flowed into his body of its own accord.

As Cosmic Energy entered him, the Gene Energy within Qin Hao's body continuously trembled. It gradually formed an interaction with the Cosmic Energy, merging with it and driving one another onward. Driven by the Cosmic Energy, his Gene Energy underwent constant transformation, which in turn drove the transformation of Qin Hao's body. Beginning with his cells, this transformation gradually filled the deficiencies throughout his body.

Had Qin Hao been paying attention, he would certainly have thought of the Postnatal to Prenatal process and Marrow Cleansing described in novels from his previous life. But at this moment, Qin Hao's attention was completely off his body and focused on the changes in the world around him.

His mind was tranquil, fused with heaven and earth, united with the universe... As Qin Hao gradually entered the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, he felt his comprehension of Artistic Conception continuously deepening. He gained a sense of control over his surroundings, as though he could bring everything around him under his command at any moment.

Yet this feeling carried an unreal quality within its reality. Soon, Qin Hao reached the summit of Mount Everest. His mind gradually returned, but that sense of control did not disappear.

Domain? No. This sense of control is far too illusory. It should only be a Domain Prototype. Qin Hao could still clearly assess his current state.

Ten thousand meters beneath Mount Everest, a glimmer of light flashed, as though a machine long left unrepaired had been activated.

Beep. Target detected. Elite Student assessment begins. Preparing teleportation!